Southend's 16-year-old midfielder Medi Abalimba is to have a trial at the end of this month with Manchester United. Abalimba, who turned down a host of Premier League clubs to join the Blues in the summer, has attracted attention with his trickery in the youth team. "They have watched Medi a few times and they like what they have seen.

"They will assess him in training and maybe take him a bit longer so he can play in a game," Southend head of youth Ricky Duncan told the club's website.

"We don't want to lose our players to bigger clubs but we should not stop them experiencing these types of things when they come along.

"It is a learning curve for him, and it is fantastic for us that these sides are interested in what we are doing